The laminated nature of shale and tight geological formations may lead to different mechanical properties along the vertical and horizontal directions. The anisotropy of elastic rock behavior and the resulting complex closure stress profile induce difficulties to characterize fracture geometries and locations. The effective propped area (EPA) of highly laminated anisotropic reservoirs may dominate both short- and long-term fracture production performance. The EPA may be sensitive to perforation positions and other completion parameters such as injection rate, injection volume, fluid viscosity, and proppant concentration. As a result, it may be difficult to determine optimum completion strategies of shale formations based on current analytical models or a limited number of numerical modeling cases.